Little Neck school gets leg up with donation

Students and staff at P.S. 94 celebrated a $1,000 grant given to them by Walmart.

Teachers at a local Little Neck elementary school now have the means to supply their classrooms after a major retail conglomerate gave the educators a $1,000 leg up.

P.S. 94 received $50 gift cards from Walmart on October 26 for 20 of its teachers to purchase school supplies and classroom resources, school administrators said.

“This is really the first time that a huge corporation has come up and given us something tangible we could use for the children,” said Principal JoAnn Barbeosch. “It’s very gracious that they’re doing this. It’s absolutely remarkable.”

Barbeosch said the shot in the arm was much needed for the small school with limited resources, which has been struggling after budget cuts.

Money given to P.S. 94 from the city has diminished tremendously, Barbeosch said, causing most teachers to have to shell out some $300 out of pocket each year to stock their classrooms.

“We run low on supplies and it’s hard to replace them,” said Heidi Bateman, a fifth grade teacher at the school, who spends at least $200 of her own money each year. “This is a great help.”

Walmart representative Nicole Estremera said each store in the company is given about $1,000 each year to donate to one local school in need.

The 41-77 Little Neck Parkway school is home to 427 students, roughly 25 full-time teachers and about 10 part-timers, Barbeosch said. The money would also be used to buy snacks, provide incentives for the classrooms and fill prize bins with seasonal goods like spider rings or fancy pencils and erasers, she said.